After a year without a winter guard team, Warsaw Community High School has a 15-member group ready for competition under a new director.
Hannah Helman is the first-year guard director, with Sarah Fox serving as assistant guard director.
WCHS Band Director Mickey Ratliff said there were a few reasons the high school didn't have a winter guard last year. The program didn't have an instructor, and Ratliff said they wanted to build the winter guard program. Since there was no instructor, Ratliff said, they felt like taking a year off to find an instructor and rebuilding the program would be a good idea.Ratliff said they also wanted to do different styles of programs to make the guard more appealing to students. With a new staff and more appealing programs, Ratliff said the program would build. And, competitively, he said, the winter guard will be more successful if they move in that direction.
According to Fox, the guard will be performing to "I've Seen All Good People" by the band Yes. The show, inspired by the 1970s, also will feature a little bit of John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance."
Ratliff said the Yes song was a little too short so something else was needed to extend the performance. At the end of "Good People," Ratliff said, "Give Peace A Chance" is quoted, so they decided to add some of that song to the start of the performance.
Fox said the whole performance is about four minutes.
"It's going really well," said Helman of the winter guard's rehearsals.
Fox said some things are being added last minute to the show, but they're just getting all their ducks in a row.
Before the tryouts in November, Ratliff said, they had two weeks of training for possible guard members. Twenty people auditioned, 15 students made the cut.
On Dec. 7, Jeff Wroblewski, a choreographer from Noblesville, traveled up to Warsaw for one day. He blocked and taught the show to the 14 girls and one guy all in one day.
The show starts out with two senior girls doing "ballet type of stuff," said Fox. The rest of the show, said Helman, is very upbeat and engaging.
Ratliff said the guard this year has students with a wide range of abilities. Some have done winter guard throughout their high school careers, others are doing it for the first year. The male student of the group is really skilled with the rifle and flag, Ratliff said.
"At least, for us, as far as we are concerned," Ratliff said, "the show design is different as opposed to classical." He said the students really enjoy performing the show and have a lot of fun with it.
The WCHS Winter Guard will compete in its first invitational Saturday at Bishop Dwenger in Fort Wayne. Other shows will be Jan. 31 at Anderson; Feb. 7 at Plymouth; Feb. 14 at Heritage High School; Feb. 21 at Snyder; Feb. 28 at Anderson Highland; and March 14 at the divisional finals.
Helman said her goal for the guard for the year is "that they do their best. They don't have to bring home a trophy every performance."
